Russell Westbrook, You So Crazy!: Stuck in the Middle

Last night, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook raised their voices on the sidelines, beginning the speculation about their future together and Westbrook’s willingness to take his seat in the motorcycle sidecar. The Thunder also beat the Grizzlies 98-95 in a contest between two of the West’s emerging powers, and Durant’s second half showed exactly what makes him such a spine-tingling performer. OKC needed points, and Durant provided them in short order. For all of his oddity, KD is a remarkably straightforward proposition. LeBron James is a puzzle, a high-test weapons system whose ultimate use remains subject to interpretation. Durant is unflappable with the game on the line. That’s it. Although the fifth-year forward looks and moves like a higher form of life from a planet where the shores glow mauve, what he gives the Thunder is as uncomplicated as his easygoing personality. Durant doesn’t change or shift shape, circumstances do.

For his part, Russell Westbrook went 0 for 13 from the floor, and fought with Durant in front of a semi-national audience (NBA-TV is more a conduit than a proper television network). Within minutes, it revived all the ugly storylines that sprung up out of last year’s playoffs. The lockout had submerged them, along with every other stray detail about the NBA not immediately applicable to a salary cap figure, but nothing has changed. They just went dormant. Durant spent the summer raising his profile and looks better than ever. Westbrook hasn’t gotten a contract extension yet--sure, blame the lockout--and now finds himself in the awkward position of trying to prove he’s worth max money mostly by proving he can defer to Durant. Any point guard playing with Kevin Durant should know when to fall back. Except Westbrook’s aggression is his greatest asset, and dialing it down is first and foremost about his value to the Thunder, not his market value next summer. And no, it’s not as simple as calling Westbroook a ball-hog and insisting he will alienate teams. He won’t end up alone and sobbing, not in a league where Derrick Rose is the reigning MVP. Pointing out the irony of Westbrook’s situation isn’t defeatist, or pessimistic. It’s acknowledging that the confusion is mutual. The Thunder don’t know exactly what to do with him, this season or beyond that.

The proof that Russell Westbrook has OKC, and NBA observers, ready to jump at the slightest provocation? Westbrook wasn’t upset that Durant took over the game, or even frustrated at his own abysmal performance. The problem was Thabo Sefolosha’s reluctance to take a wide-open three. Russell Westbrook lost it when his teammate wouldn’t shoot, the polar opposite of what we’re supposed to expect of him. In some ways, though, this might be the quinessential Westbrook incident. The intensity, even irrationality, behind this reaction goes deeper than egoism. It’s an unreconstructed competitive impulse that makes his bouts of selfishness and futility more pitiable than malicious. In his own way, he’s as much of an absolutist as Durant. But while Durant is slippery, and savvy, trained to insert himself into any situation and win, Westbrook is still learning how to care too much and still have it amount to something useful.

The real worry coming out of Oklahoma City? The perennially on-message squad has discovered the Twitter feud. Kendrick Perkins, whose scowl, we’re told, masks the world’s biggest heart, had this to say to Chris Webber: "and im tired of chris webber hatin on me get a ring first and then i can respect ya comments other wise keep my name out of ya mouth" [sic]. These are the kind of loud noises that a team needs to worry about.

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